News Flash! Junior Wins The 2005 Daytona 500

For everyone wondering if Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the rest of the DEI team will continue to dominate on restrictor-plate tracks, we have your answer. With the help of EA Sports' NASCAR 2005: Chase for the Cup, a new version of the popular series that allows a player to indulge his inner crew chief by choosing the cars' setups, we simulated next year's Daytona 500. Surprise! Junior was the winner.

Here's how the race played out: Tony Stewart started on the pole (below) and ran well throughout the day, but in the early part of the race, it looked as if Ryan Newman's number 12 Dodge was the car to beat. However, Newman made a last-minute decision to follow Bobby Labonte, the race leader at the time, into the pits. He dived onto pit row a bit too fast, and NASCAR officials gave Newman a stop-and-go-penalty that ultimately killed his chances for his first Daytona 500 victory.

In every restrictor-plate race drivers fear the "big one," the massive wreck that tosses cars around as if they were caught in a tornado. True to life, that came to pass in this simulation. This time, the big one hit on Lap 117, when Carl Edwards got into the back of Casey Mears in Turn 3. Michael Waltrip's number 15 Chevrolet got caught up in the mess and had to go to the garage for extensive repairs. This hurt Earnhardt Jr., who lost a powerful drafting partner. However, Little E's car was just too good for a back-of-the-pack finish, and he was able to team up with Kevin Harvick to keep the number 8 Chevy in clean air. In a close finish Junior held off Jeff Gordon to take the checkered flag for the second year in a row. Newman, Stewart and Jimmie Johnson rounded out the top five.

Don't like the results? Try it yourself. Chase for the Cup will be available for PC users in February.